Abstract:

In Jill Fletcher’s well-known book on the history of South African theatre,
entitled The Story of South African Theatre: 1780-1930 (1994), she gives a
fascinating overview of the establishment of a theatre tradition in South
Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. The influence of certain historical
events and the impact of various political regimes at the Cape of Good Hope
during this period all left traces on the development of such a tradition. The
colonisation of the Cape of Good Hope first by Dutch settlers (1652-1806)
and then the more prolonged colonisation of the Cape and South Africa by
the British (from 1806 till 1961) led to the development of two mainstream
European theatre traditions in South Africa: one that was mainly influenced
by the British theatre tradition, and one that was clearly to a greater extent
influenced by the European (Dutch, German, French) tradition. Afrikaans
drama and theatre developed from the latter tradition.
I want to highlight in this article the importance of only two plays in this
tradition, namely S.J. du Toit’s Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Deon Opperman’s
Donkerland (1996). Whilst du Toit’s play is scarcely known or
remembered by contemporary Afrikaans audiences and is relegated to the
annals of South African/Afrikaans theatre history, Opperman’s play is well
known, has received the most prestigious Afrikaans (literary) award
(namely the Hertzog Prize) and is today widely studied by students, scholars
and researchers.
The discussion will be placed within the broader context of a contemporary
interest in drama and theatre studies, namely a focus on the relationship
between theatre and memory. This interest is evident in a number of
recent studies (notably Marvin Carlson’s The Haunted Stage: The Theatre
as Memory Machine). A comparative reading of these two Afrikaans plays,
namely Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Donkerland (1996), will focus on the
theme of Afrikaner nationalism as a common theme linking these two
historical plays. The main concepts and ideas associated with this theme as
highlighted in this discussion are: the (re)interpretation of certain events
within Afrikaner history and the relationship with the indigenous people of
this land; the Afrikaans language; and the volksmoeder theme.

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